DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu has urged the Centre to take steps to release 227 Tamil fishermen lodged in various jails in Sri Lankan before ‘Pongal’ festival.
Mr. Baalu, who led a delegation of fishermen’s representatives to Delhi, said that External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had agreed to talk to his Sri Lankan counterpart to facilitate the release. “I also wanted him to organise a meeting between fishermen of both countries in the third week of January to arrive at a lasting solution,” Mr. Baalu said.
A total of 77 boats worth Rs. 50 lakh are also under the custody of Sri Lankan Navy. Mr. Baalu said that he also met National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon.
Mr. Baalu said that a total of 213 Sri Lankan fishermen were in jails in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India and efforts should be made to release them simultaneously.
“Mr Menon promised to look into it,” he said.
